Chapter Thirty-Seven
Eugene appeared before the territorial judge in Laramie for kidnapping and assault, plus an assortment of lesser charges within days, was convicted and sentenced to serve a ten year term. With the Wyoming territorial prison well over capacity, he remained in Aaron’s cell until they found another facility to accept him, anywhere from Nebraska to Michigan. To her uncle, this was intolerable and so were the conditions, especially when Aaron housed one unsavory character after another with him as a cellmate. At first, he’d been angry, accusing Aaron of abusive practices. After a week, he’d changed his tune and was offering to tell all of his misdeeds in hopes of receiving leniency, which of course Aaron didn’t offer. He did concede to move him to his own cell if he would answer Jenny’s questions.
When she’d asked if that was his plan all along, Aaron had winked at her, saying, “Certainly not, little sister, that would be coercion.”
Jenny hadn’t looked forward to seeing Eugene again, but wanted to get answers to the myriad questions that revolved in her head. Heath had been reluctant to allow it at first, but with him and Aaron present, and Eugene securely behind bars, he finally agreed.
One afternoon, about two weeks after his trial, Jenny walked into the jail on Heath’s arm for a scheduled meeting with her uncle. She didn’t even try to hide her smile of satisfaction when she saw him looking dejected and lost. He didn’t deserve her sympathy, not having shown her any in the least. Aaron pulled up a chair, which he placed in front of Eugene’s locked cell. He then stepped aside and allowed Jenny to sit and ask what she wanted, Heath standing like a stone column, hard and resolute, behind her.
“Jennifer,” he’d said in greeting, much of his pompous arrogance gone. “You have questions?”
“Yes, I want to know how you become involved with my father after being estranged so long.”
“He sought me out, actually. Some six months ago, he came begging for financial backing of his silver mine. He showed me the unprocessed ore and boasted that the mountain was full of it. Eustace had silver fever, which was as dangerous as it was contagious. I soon had it too and like a fool, jumped onboard.”
“But I saw you arguing with him in the barn one day, not long before mama got sick.”
“The fool was in trouble. He’d let much of the farming go, thinking he’d get rich quick on the silver, but he couldn’t produce fast enough. Mining the ore is a slow process, especially for a one-man operation. That’s when he started getting reckless and started blasting underground.”
“In the barn that day, you told him it was your way, or go it alone.”
“What a good little eavesdropper you are.”
A growl sounded behind her as Heath took exception to his tone. Eugene shifted uneasily before continuing in a less provoking manner. “I was afraid he would blow his fool head off or be crushed in a cave-in, leaving me high and dry and out thousands of dollars. To protect my investment, I paid him a visit demanding he change his will and name me William’s guardian, in case of his untimely demise. When your papa came to me before he died, I couldn’t be sure he’d done as I asked.”
“But he did, with the codicil.”
“That little twist was a surprise to me. He was too pickled and putrid to tell me straight, so I had my attorney draft another one, to make certain. Good thing too; he cocked up his toes the next day.”
“Just answer the damn questions without the commentary,” Heath barked.
Eugene’s gaze shifted from Heath to Aaron, who did not look pleased. His callousness about the death of his own brother made Jenny sick. The man had no soul, quite obviously. Eugene was also creating as many questions as answers for her. It boggled her mind that all this went on right under her nose.
“So you didn’t know about the codicil and the clause requiring me to marry?”
“No, the first I heard of it was before court that day. I suspect the marriage requirement was your mama’s idea. I’ve had plenty of time to think this through while rotting in the Omaha jail for a month and here in the marshal’s fine establishment. I know Caroline discovered Eustace’s silver fever a few months in. She was not happy about her husband’s change in vocation, but he was already in it up to his elbows. After I demanded the changes to the will, I imagine she had Eustace add that clause to protect you from me. If she married you off, you would have your little tract of land, a husband to see to you and your brother, and I would have been cut out of the picture altogether by a simple ‘I do.’”
“But if I didn’t marry, she would have left me destitute.”
“Did I mention Caroline taking an immediate dislike to me? I can’t imagine why, I’m so likable.”
Jenny shot him a disgusted glance, to which he simply shrugged.
“I figure in your mama’s eyes, being poor was the lesser evil to me. I didn’t know your ma well, but I suspect the clause was to be used as a bargaining chip, to get you to comply with her marriage plans, if need be. She didn’t have time to play that card though, did she? Who would have thought that she would precede Eustace in death over arsenic-laced tea, of all things.” He shook his head, seeming amazed by the twist of fate, but when he turned his gaze on her, it was all she could do not to flinch at the mix of resentment and hatred she saw in his close-set eyes. “I have to say, although your charms are quite obvious, I’m surprised you pulled off a marriage so quickly, in all of one day, in fact. What do you have between those thighs? A cunt made of gold?”
“Shut your mouth,” Aaron demanded.
“We’re done here,” Heath grated, pulling Jenny to her feet. “You’re not fit to breathe the same air that she does. And I’m warning you here and now, if you are ever within one hundred miles of her again, you’re a dead man. This I vow.”
At the door, Heath turned back, a cold, hard, humorless smile on his lips. “Another thing, just for fun. I hope you rot in prison, wherever you land, and that your cellmate is a great big brute of a sodomite who likes soft pudgy playthings.”
Eugene blanched visibly as Heath whisked Jenny out the door, her laughter trailing after them.